Coquille

A large steel shield in the form of a sea-shell attributed to Athena, the goddess of civilization, craft wisdom and war.

For most people, this will be a rather normal steel magical shield, though the form may appear rather odd.
However this magical steel shield shows many faced behavior due to the fact that this shield is said to have a connection with Athena herself.
Some say that the shield was crafted and enchanted for her, others even think that it was Athena herself that crafted and enchanted this shield to help her hero fight a battle, while protecting the peasants working the field.

Coquille first made itself known in a battle that was fought during the month of harvest. The battle was fierce and harsh and did not stay in one place. Slowly the battle moved into a cornfield where the farmers where trying their best to save as much grain as possible from the trampling feet. It was at this moment a Paladin of Athena was handed a shield by his page.
After the Paladin had fastened the shield to his arm, none of the nearby farmers where hit by arrows or other missiles, as all of the missiles turned and targeted the shield. It is needles to say that after the battle, the farmers celebrated the Paladin and carried him into the village. During the festivities, some of the villagers wanted to hang the shield from a higher place, for everybody to see their savior. The paladin struggled, but the villagers removed the shield none the less and the paladin was instantly slain.

Long since has the shield been in and out of sight, usually turning up on the arm of a paladin and hardly ever leaving his side, before his days where counted.

Magical Properties:

The shield shows many faces, which depend on the person picking it up.
Ordinary people find nothing special about this shield, save that it is a normal (low) magical shield. (D&D +1)

For true followers of Athena, the shield grows stronger (D&D +2), negating the entire armor check penalty and functioning as a shield of arrow attraction, but doubling the magical bonus another time for flying missile items. (D&D +4)
Any sharp missile entering a twenty foot radius around the shield and weighing as much or less as a short spear (the favored weapon of Athena) does not target the intended target, but the wearer of the shield.
If the shield is taken from the possession of a follower of Athena, this follower takes damage for 75% of his hit points. (D&D terms: fortitude save DC 20 for half damage)

For followers of Ares (The god who opposes Athena), the shield is cursed, as the wrath of Athena strikes the wearer. It gives no armor bonus, but can not be loosened either, while the armor check penalty is doubled. Since this person may not loose the shield, it is impossible to wield a two-handed weapon.
The shield may only be removed by casting a "remove curse" on the wearer, but this must be done by a cleric of Ares.

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Wow, this shield has a rather dramatic side effect.
I'd suggest the following:

When the shield catches arrows in this manner, it stores the damage and slows dissipates it while the shield is held. If taken off before the energies have dissipated, then the bearer takes the damage. Rate of dissipation of course is left to the GM, say 1 hour per arrow.

While setting up camp for the night, the PC's are aproached by another group of adventurers who seem nice enough. The road is somewhat dangerous and the other group suggests camping together. The two bands split watches, one adventurer from each group watching at once. The night goes by without incident, the next day the PC's travel with the other group as they are going the same way.

The group consists of Hordel the ranger, who is skilled with the bow. Hordel is a quiet man who speaks little but appears quite skilled. Dremar is a barbarian who is a little excentric, he seems to be an excasive drinker and thiunk that battle is the solution to everything. He appears to be a stout and powerful fighter with his greataxe. Ferrin is the leader of the group, a rouge by trade. He is daft and witty, speaking with the PCs often and asking many questions. He fights with finesse with his rapier. Preminitat as a cleric but he will not say which god he worships. He uses his spells to empower and heal his party and fights with a club. He sticks close to Ferrin. Ferrin is a great talker and tells much of himself and his party, but asks even more about the history and capabilities of the PCs. He tells of some adventures his party has had, and they seem like an interesting group of mercenaries. Hordel is quite and has little interest in speaking with the PCs, he ignores most questions. He spends a lot of time with Dremar and sometimes Ferrin. Dremar seems to not care about any questions ansked to him, nor does he seem to know the answers. He seems battle hardened and is a simple man. Preminitat rarely starts conversations but will speak with the PCs. However, some of his accounts of the party's history seem to condradict those of Ferrin.

The Party spends another night and day with Ferrin's group. One of four things can happen on the third night.
1: While eating dinner around the fire, Ferrin gets into an argument with one of the PCs when he/she mentions the discepincies between Ferrin's stories and Preminitat's.
2: Hordel gets mad after repeated questioning about his life from the PCs.
3. Preminitat gets mad after repeated questioning from the PCs about what god he worships.
4: One of the PCs rejects the offer of a drink from Dremar and he takes it as an insult.
All of these scenarios result in a battle between the parties. If Ferrin's party is defeated and still lives he swears vengance. His party may then cross paths with the adventurers again.